Category: Small groups

Solomon’s Gift – Discernment

Story

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My dear Wormwood,

I was delighted to hear from Triptweeze that your patient has made some very desirable new acquaintances and that you seem to have used this event in a really promising manner. I gather that the middle-aged married couple who called at his office are just the sort of people we want him to know – rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly sceptical about everything in the world. I gather they are even vaguely pacifist, not on moral grounds but from an ingrained habit of belittling anything that concerns the great mass of their fellow men and from a dash of purely fashionable and literary communism. This is excellent. And you seem to have made good use of all his social, sexual and intellectual vanity. Tell me more. Did he commit himself deeply? I don’t mean in words. There is a subtle play of looks and tones and laughs by which a mortal can imply that he is of the same party as those to whom he is speaking. That is the kind of betrayal you should especially encourage, because the man does not fully realise it himself; and by the time he does you will made withdrawal difficult….

Your affectionate uncle,

Screwtape.

Question

C.S. Lewis composed the famous fictional work, Screwtape Letters, as a conversation between an experienced demon, Screwtape and his nephew, Wormwood. This particular interaction is an attempt to skew the “patient’s” discernment. What can we do to ensure our discernment is not hindered by those around us?

Solomon’s Gift – Discernment

Old Testament Passage

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⁷ On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” ⁸ And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. ⁹ Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. ¹⁰ Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” ¹¹ Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— ¹² wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”

2 Chronicles 1:7-12

Question

God came to Solomon when he must have been feeling the most powerful of all. His request for wisdom showed his humility before the Lord. How can we ensure that we remember where we stand before God, even in our highs?

If You Love Me…

Challenge

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Discuss as a group some of the barriers stopping us from keeping God’s commandments and serving others with Christ-like love.

Every day this week pray that the Lord enlarges our heart to

Love Him more

OR

Serve someone difficult

OR

Reveal the barriers stopping us from obeying His commands

Prayer

To Our King,

Thank You for Your love that has no bounds, Your mercies which You renew each morning, and Your commandments which give us life. Thank You for constantly knocking on the door of our hearts begging us to open so that You may fill it with exceedingly abundant gifts. Thank You for never giving up on us. Help us Lord to set You as a seal upon our heart, in loving You, and as a seal upon our arm, in loving and serving others. Open our eyes to see the barriers stopping us from loving You, from obeying Your commandments, and from loving Your people.

Lord, we love You. But help our lack of love. Amen.

If You Love Me…

Old Testament Passage

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1 “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always…

13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,  14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.  15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

Deuteronomy 11:1, 13-15

Quote

“It is good to say that you love God, but your love for Him appears in your labour for His sake, and He will reward you for your love and labour”

H.H. Pope Shenouda III

Questions

1. How can we love the Lord and serve Him with all our heart and soul?

2. If we do love Him and serve Him, the Lord promises ‘rain for our land in season’ and ‘grain, new wine and oil’. What do these rewards mean to us? How can we claim His promises?

If You Love Me…

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Story

It is said that a certain emperor decided to bear all the costs of building a huge cathedral. He spared no expense throughout the project. After the completion of construction, a memorial plaque was installed at the entrance, mentioning the emperor as the person who consecrated and inaugurated the cathedral.

The following day, the authorities noticed that the emperor’s name had been erased from the plaque and was replaced with two other names. They were quite surprised, and removed the plaque and replaced it with another one bearing the emperor’s name. This process however was repeated several times, until the emperor heard of it. He immediately prayed to God asking Him to reveal the reason for what happened. An angel then appeared to him and told him that two children deserved, more than he, to have their names inscribed on the plaque, since they had paid much.

The emperor wondered how two children could have paid much, when he was the one who paid all the expenses. The angel said that the two children deserved this honour because they loved God so much, that they longed to offer something towards building His house. Seeing that all they possessed in this world were two hearts full of love, they resolved to carry a container of water to the camels carrying the stones to build the Lord’s house; thus they toiled every morning, offering their labour and their love.

Truly, the house of the Lord needs unseen soldiers – young, old, men and women – capable of offering pure, precious love.

~ Fr. Tadros Malaty ‘Stories for the Youth’

Commentary

“Christ gives us each other to prepare us for the kingdom of heaven, through our love for one another. As we care for each other, little by little, and day by day, we come to understand the depth of Christ’s love”

Jason Ketz (St. Vladimir’s Seminarian)

Question

God knows the truth of our hearts by the depth of love we offer in both the big and small things. What are small things we do day by day that can either be filled with love or can reveal our lack of love?

If You Love Me…

New Testament Passage

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If you love Me, keep my commandments.

John 14:15

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome

1 John 5:3

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

John 21:15-17

Commentary

And yet Christ the Lord wanted to indicate how people ought to show that they love Christ. And he made it plain enough by entrusting him with his sheep. “Do you love me?” “I do.” “Feed my sheep.” All this once, all this a second time, all this a third time. Peter made no other reply than that he loved Him. The Lord asked no other question but whether he loved Him. When Peter answered, our Lord did nothing else but entrust his sheep to him.

St Augustine

Questions

1. In the first two passages, it is clear that if we love God we must do His commandments. But can’t I still love Him even if/when I don’t follow His commandments?

2. When Peter confesses his love, why does Christ repeats the instruction three times? What is the link between ‘Loving God’ and ‘Feeding sheep’?

Patience in Tribulation Part 4

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Quote

Too often people embarking on the spiritual life forget that patience is a virtue, and that, because of man’s freedom, the effort to cleanse one’s life from sin is tiresome and long. Everything is expected at once, with little striving and small effort.

Too often, also, people who wish to be patient forget that the virtue is a grace of God and a fruit of the Spirit. They think that they can attain patience with themselves and with others by will power alone; by rationalizations and human considerations. Such people never find peace for their souls.

The virtue of patience is found in the steadfast endurance given by God. It is the power to “stay on the cross” no matter what, doing only the will of the Lord. Patience is united with faith, hope, love, humility and obedience, which alone brings the strength to go on. It must be renewed daily through fasting, prayer and communion with God in the Church. It is found when one trains oneself to remember God, to abide in Christ and to see all things in the light of the Kingdom of God.

Fr Thomas Hopko

Challenge

With every tribulation you face this month, recall one time God has delivered you from a similar situation.

Prayer

When the storms get rough, help us to remember You first. Help us to remember that when we are just trying to make the next step, You are preparing us to soar like eagles above all that concerns us in this world. Help us to remain steadfast in hope of Your mercy, Your love and Your compassion. Help us to be thankful for the opportunity to share in Your suffering in all tribulations I face. Give me internal joy that is unaffected by the tumult around us.

Help us to pray like Job, ““Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). May we never cling so tightly to anything in this world that may stop us from praising Your Name. Amen.

Patience in Tribulation Part 3

Old Testament Passage

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³ He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But He was woundedfor our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripeswe are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. ⁹ And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. ¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:1-12

Question

When we consider tribulation as an opportunity to share in the suffering of Christ, patience naturally follow. How can we become thankful for all tribulation when we feel like we’ve had enough?

Patience in Tribulation Part 2

Story

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“Who is Pope Kyrillos? The one who works miracles? Who casts out demons?” quietly asked Fr Raphael, shaking his head. “That is not at all there is to Kyrillos; but if you want to know who he really is, I will tell you…

In 1968, there was a much-loved priest whom Kyrillos relocated to the patriarchate for six months to serve closely with him… The whole parish [unaware of the reason] rose in something of a revolution; Sunday school, youth groups, the church committee, all of them, asking, “How could you remove this beloved priest?… The people began cursing, buses arrived at the patriarchate overflowing with people. “We want our priest back,” they screamed. Then after six months, Kyrillos moved him to another [far move thriving] parish… but once more the revolution arose; cursing and criticism began once more. And yet Kyrillos remained silent. This went on for some time until an old friend from Kyrillos’ time in Old Cairo rebuked him: “You are causing trouble, everyone is disturbed and angry; just return the priest to his parish- do we need more troubles?” Kyrillos calmly confided to his dear friend, “If you only knew the reality… this priest is not worthy of priesthood.”

Not worthy of priesthood?… And yet he stayed silent for six months, being mocked, criticised, sworn at… and not once did Kyrillos open his mouth to explain. Not merely a mistake, the man was not worthy of priesthood at all, and yet he puts him in his bosom, in the patriarchate, and then returns him, healed.”

Fr Daniel Fanous. A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI Life and Legacy,” St Vladamir’s Seminary Press (2019), New York, NY, pg. 307-308

Question

Pope Kyrillos VI welcomed tribulation for righteousness’ sake. How can we choose to be righteous in all our tribulations?